Her events have been largely of the meet-and-greet variety - get in and out as fast as she can. The campaign has instituted a "no questions" policy at a majority of her stops this weekend to keep things moving, and that generally applies to both the media and to Iowa voters.

But at her stop at a north central Iowa Pizza Ranch restaurant, she and her husband Marcus were met with a woman wearing a Bachmann sticker who was holding a sign that read: "Gay-friendly Iowan."

"I was wondering if you would sign my sign?" the woman wearing the sticker, who identified herself as Kathy Schnell, asked.

"Gay-friendly Iowan?" Bachmann asked with a small laugh as she signed her name.

Schnell thanked her and followed it with a question that, in reality, was more of a comment.

"I wonder if you're aware that 10% of the population is gay. And if you have 28 children, then 2.8 of those kids are very likely gay."

The congresswoman, within definite earshot as she hovered over Schnell, at first seemed to avoid the question, trying to say "hello" to someone new.

Schnell turned to her friend and said, "She's not listening to me."

Bachmann must have heard that because she then turned back.

"Well, that's according to the Kinsey Report," the candidate replied.

Dr. Alfred Kinsey is best known for conducting interviews with thousands of individuals and publishing his findings in books on human sexual behavior during the 1940s and '50s.

Bachmann's husband, who runs a clinic in their district in Minnesota that has long been accused of conducting "reparative therapy" by trying to help gay individuals become straight, then chimed in.

"Your facts are wrong," he said.

"That's not valid?" Schnell asked back.

"No it isn't," Michele Bachmann said. Her husband added, "No, it's not at all. It's been a myth for many years."

The presidential hopeful then moved to the next table. Schnell pulled off her Bachmann sticker.

Schnell later told CNN she is a Democrat who is not happy with the current Democratic administration and the Democrats in Washington.

Asked if she was surprised Bachmann signed her poster, Schnell said no.

"I think she wants to be a very nice person," Schnell said. "She's adorable. But I just don't think she should be our president."

Schnell wasn't the only one in the room passionate about gay rights. A handful of college students were also on hand in the restaurant at the time, but did not try to raise a question. After the event, however, the group stood outside waving rainbow flags, a common symbol of gay rights support.

Quentin Hill, an 18-year-old student at the University of Iowa, said he wanted to ask her a question as she worked the room but was told ahead of time not to.

"They weren't taking questions today. I asked one of her staffers and I was kind of shut down as soon as I started asking," Hill said, adding that he wanted to ask her about the issue of gay teen suicides.

"I think if you want to be president of the United States, first of all you have to realize that you are representing all Americans including gay Americans and secondly you should be able to answer questions," Hill said.

"If you want my vote, I want to know what you stand for. So I think it's unfortunate that she comes and shakes hands and signs some signs and thinks she's going to get votes out of that."

soundoff(530 Responses)

While I do hate to agree with Bachmann on ANYTHING, let alone the hottest of hot-button issues... She's right about this one.

The Kinsey Studies were really very shoddy scientifically and the results molded and spun in ways that would have make Karl Rove proud. The "10% Gay" finding counted anyone who had ever had a weird dream, urge, or whim as 'gay'. The studies were done in order to justify the Kinsey's own beliefs and behavious, and have LONG since been discredited even in the anti-conservative universities that people like Bachmann hate.

She's wrong about her overall opinions when it comes to gays... but not about this specific point.

December 19, 2011 01:51 pm at 1:51 pm |

meetoo

Actually I think only 2 – 3% of the population is gay. 10% is probably too high. At any rate being a smaller minority its easier to be trampled on and ignored, unfortunetely.

December 19, 2011 01:59 pm at 1:59 pm |

Kinsey

ThinkAgain and Cedar Rapids, thanks for the assist. I was too flabbergasted to reply!

December 19, 2011 02:02 pm at 2:02 pm |

Scott

Typical fundamentalist/republican reasoning. Start with the desired conclusion, then try to work backwards and string cherry-picked facts together to form a quasi-logical line of reasoning.

December 19, 2011 02:05 pm at 2:05 pm |

Phil

Okay, to begin, I'm not a fan of Bachmann–at all. However, this is getting stupid. Most of these posts are by people who have no idea of what the Kinsey report actually is, have never read the Kinsey report, nor have they read academic critiques of the flawed methodology behind the report. Bachmann is on on a campaign tour making stump speeches about issues like job creation, and so, while I agree that the stonewalling ("no questions") approach isn't helpful, it's ludicrous to imply that she is a hateful person because she's not centering her platform around the issue of suicide rates of gay teens, gay rights, etc. Also, I don't understand why Kathy Schnell was even at the rally posing as a Bachmann supporter if she is actually a Democrat who probably isn't going to vote for a Republican candidate anyway. Ridiculous.

December 19, 2011 02:05 pm at 2:05 pm |

Dean

Sarah

Jesus wouldn't treat gays this way now would he, Ms. Bachmann? Afghanistan has its Taliban. The US the Tea Party.

December 18, 2011 07:38 pm at 7:38 pm |

Sarah I ask you, can you give us a couple of examples how you equate the Tea Party and the Taliban? And we let people like you vote.

December 19, 2011 02:07 pm at 2:07 pm |

Anne

I take issue with the way CNN decided to write the paragraph below. It is an example of poor journalism.

"Bachmann's husband, who runs a clinic in their district in Minnesota that has long been accused of conducting 'reparative therapy' by trying to help gay individuals become straight, then chimed in."

The way the paragraph currently reads implies that such help exists gay men and women when certain professionals “try” to provide it. Either the word “help” should be placed in quotations or the sentence should be rewritten to read something to the effect of: " …by attempting to turn gay individuals into straight individuals…"

December 19, 2011 02:08 pm at 2:08 pm |

Crook County, IL

Accusing ALL Republicans of being anti-gay rights is like accusing ALL Democrats of being on welfare. I used to be a Democrat and I sure wasn't on welfare.....hmmm. Anyway, I left that party and am now an Independent Voter and instead of stereotyping each candidate by party affiliation, I judge the candidate themself. My candidate for 2012, Jon Huntsman, is a Republican but is supportive of gay rights (kind of disproves your ALL GOP's are anti-gay "myth"): “On the domestic front, and as it specifically pertains to our greater LGBT community, Governor and Mrs. Huntsman are particularly supportive of our issues,” wrote Moran, a consultant who also is involved with the GOP gay-rights group known as the Log Cabin Republicans. Moran wrote that Huntsman supported legislation that established civil unions for gays in Utah in 2009 and also set up regular meetings with the Log Cabin Republicans as governor.

December 19, 2011 02:08 pm at 2:08 pm |

TheAlaskaCurmudgeon

Good old Michelle. She boldly proves herself over and over to be the one woman in America certifiably dumber than Sarah Palin. There's some sort of accomplishment there, I'm just not sure what it is.

December 19, 2011 02:14 pm at 2:14 pm |

Grog Says

**** Many will not admit that Bachman is right.

Yup, Bachman is right.
She is so far right, she has fallen of the edge of the world.

December 19, 2011 02:16 pm at 2:16 pm |

Grog Says

Oh my god !!!!!

Being Gay is a disease that should be treated. Proof? If all people were gay, the human race would die and cease to exist.

Ummm, let me explain something.
All gay children come from straight parents.
There is thing called "biology" please read about it.

December 19, 2011 02:19 pm at 2:19 pm |

Medzer

Bachmann is another example of a trend of the Republican Party where it has been less than capable of putting forth a solid field of reasonably intelligent presidential candidates. I can't figure it out, just as I could not fathom the epic lack of judgement by the GOP/ McCain handlers that laid that foul egg that made Sarah Palin John McCain's running mate. Someone commented that Bachmann is just Palin 2.0 and, as funny as that is, one must ask why the GOP 'dumbing down' the candidates.

Some may find a big spending, liberal, Ivy League academic unpalatable, but responsible Republicans need to be mindful of swift and sound intellectual beat down that McCain was given in the last Presidential debates. Irrespective of political leanings, Obama was dignified in the mercy he showed the venerable and heroic soldier. Now fast forward to next year and picture each of the current GOP candidates and how many would be able to compete in that contest. That would eliminate all but two of the current stable of candidates and Bachmann....not a prayer!

December 19, 2011 02:20 pm at 2:20 pm |

Steven Bannister

I don't really like Michelle Bachman – but she is RIGHT about Kingsey. Check out a Youtube video called The Kingsey Coverup. This man practiced dubious science – he discarded 75% of all data that disagreed with his findings. His subjects were disproportionately selected from the gay, homeless and criminal communities and did not reflect the American population as a whole. There is also evidence that he aided and abetted child molestation in order to study it.

Again, check out The Kingsey Coverup on Youtube.

December 19, 2011 02:28 pm at 2:28 pm |

Derek

Not that I agree with Bachmann even slightly- shes a complete moron with little idea of the workings of government who thinks it would be fun to play president- but I'd like to know what follow up studies there are to the Kinsey Report (I'm sure there must be some) to see if they concur. After all, one study means squat; they must be backed up by subsequent studies to hold any weight.

December 19, 2011 02:32 pm at 2:32 pm |

michelle

For an accurate report about gays/lesbians, you're going to have to go to the oldest book that I know of in the world – The Bible. God says it pretty plain: that He didn't create/make people be gay/lesbian. Read further, and you'll find in His Word that people choose who they want to be. They may be influenced by family, schools insisting on teaching the gay lifestyle & choosing to be politically correct than have the courage to just teach the truth, but the bottom line, from what I know from His Word is this: God did not make anyone gay/lesbian – we, as individuals choose that when we depart from his Word. Having said that, its also important for those who are true Christians – those who choose to follow Jesus – that we have respect for those in the gay/lesbian lifestyle, and have compassion on them. Most importantly, to pray for those in that lifestyle – that the truth will be shown, not as I say; not as society says, but what the Word of God says. And to me, that's really the bottom line.

December 19, 2011 02:36 pm at 2:36 pm |

ProperVillain

I can't believe the Republicans are banging the "defense of marraige" act drum AGAIN! Seriously, there are actual problems in our country that need to be solved. These people are beyond clueless. This is such a huge waste of time and resources. For all of those that hate gays so much that you would deny them a basic priviledge due to your personal bias here is my advice: move to an island with like minded people such as yourself and leave the rest of us alone. You are not wanted. You focus on non-issues in leu of trying to solve actual problems. For the record: I am a Christian and am constantly disgusted by the anti-gay policies of the Republicans (and Democrats) and feel that they are pandering to the lowest, most thoughtless and clueless section of our country in order to garnish votes.

December 19, 2011 02:43 pm at 2:43 pm |

gwen

And for Michelle.... how do you explain gay mammels in the wild, did they choose to be gay? Maybe they were socialized into it? I've had a cousin who has been gay since he was a little boy... it was obvious when he was a little boy.. are you going to tell me he choose at 4 to be gay??? Seriously people get a clue, quit relying on an old book that you take way too literally for all your life answers.

December 19, 2011 02:45 pm at 2:45 pm |

Jim

This person makes me ashamed to be an American!

December 19, 2011 02:47 pm at 2:47 pm |

max

in my mind, the percentage doesnt even matter. being gay is not illegal according to the laws of the US. the president is there, in part, to enforce the laws.

December 19, 2011 02:50 pm at 2:50 pm |

Thomas

I suspect her handlers have elected to shift to a "no questions" approach because every time this lady tries to answer a question her ignorance leaps out making room for her foot to go deeper into her mouth.

December 19, 2011 02:54 pm at 2:54 pm |

JohnW

@michelle
So if it's in the Bible, that means God said it? Interesting, I was always under the impression that people wrote the Bible.

December 19, 2011 02:55 pm at 2:55 pm |

Erik

The Republican position on gay rights is indefensible, which is why every year it loses more ground. It can not stand up to scrutiny and will crumble under the weight of injustice. People will continue to chip away it until it is gone.

December 19, 2011 02:55 pm at 2:55 pm |

Tree

I have never seen anything like this..........everyone is going NUTS or just NUTS on the GOP SIDE......Michelle is nutty than Mitt who claims he can fix's the econmy but never once say how and the only reason why he wants to run is because of the power because people with money wants everything Mitt can not fix sh$t he just want to be Pres just because and don't give a damn about anyone .......Gingrich a great debator but ...... can not be trusted to much you know what. looking for the big kill $$$$$$$$$$.......and Perry he just want to be there always have a smile on his face.